


Shoelaces

by RiddlePanda



Category: Kamen Rider Drive
Genre: Gen, More like a Chase/Gou friendship with future relationship hint
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-25
Updated: 2015-08-25
Packaged: 2018-04-17 04:27:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,121
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4652214
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RiddlePanda/pseuds/RiddlePanda
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>One thing everyone knew about Gou was that the color of his shoelaces ALWAYS matched the color of his shirt. One day, Chase noticed they didn't.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Shoelaces

**Author's Note:**

> First story on here and originally posted to my Tumblr.

The first thing Chase noticed about Gou as he walked in the Drive Pit was that his shoelaces didn’t match his shirt. Ever since the white Rider had made his presence known to the Roidmude, Chase had been observing the younger Shijima sibling almost as much as he had observed Kiriko and Tomari. One important detail that Gou made sure of for his street clothes was that his shoelaces matched his shirt. Chase knew for a fact Gou didn’t have a purple shirt, so why was he wearing purple laces? 

Chase stayed in the corner, near his bike, as the members of the Special Investigation Unit all came up to the teen and officially welcomed him back to the team. Although it had been a week since the three Riders had destroyed Brain’s body and Nira had been arrested, this was the first time since then that anyone had even seen or talked to Gou. 

“So how about it Chase? Are you coming to the party?”

“Hmm?” Chase looked up to see Kiriko standing right beside him. He had been too preoccupied in trying to figure out why Gou had purple shoelaces that he didn’t notice the woman walking up to him or even talking to him.

“Gou’s birthday party. I thought it would be a good idea to have a joint birthday and welcome back party for him since he’s turning 19 in a few days.” Kiriko glanced over to Gou, who was preoccupied with Rinna trying to grab his Mach Driver, and turned back to Chase. “Also…maybe it’ll get him out of the funk he’s in. I’ve been worried about him, especially after not seeing him for a week.”

“I will be there, if Gou wants me there. The fact we are not “buddies” in his terms would possibly cause hostility in a joyous occasion. I do not wish to sour his mood.”

Kiriko sighed. “I’ll talk to him about it, but by all means come. You’re part of our team as well. It wouldn’t feel right if you were excluded and I know that Gou feels the same way, even if he won’t admit it.”

“What is required of me for this birthday party?”

“Just show up at the Pit on Friday. Rinna and I are handling all the party stuff and Tomari will pick up the cake.” 

“I will be here Kiriko. Hopefully there will not be a Roidmude attack that will disrupt whatever you have planned.”

———————————————————-

Despite having the Cook Roidmude appear and Heart getting his Super Evolution during the week, Tomari convinced Kiriko to keep the party planned for Friday, since she wasn't sure anyone would be in the mood to even have a party. They needed the break and Tomari reminded the woman that she had spent the money for supplies and food that would otherwise go to waste. Kiriko reluctantly agreed, but only for the chance to see if Gou would feel better.

Kiriko was just about to cut Gou’s cake when the garage door opened and Chase drove in. Gou grunted softly, so as not to let Kiriko know his disappointment as Chase walked over to him, carrying a purple gift bag.

“I apologize for being late, Gou. I could not master the art of gift wrapping, so I had to acquire an alternative wrapping for your gift.” Chase held the gift bag up to Gou, who after a few seconds giving a confused glare to the Roidmude, took the bag from the man.

Gou stared at the bag, his face blank, before finally looking up at Chase with an angered confused look on his face. “Why…?! Why did you…?"

Chase tilted his head. “Is giving a gift to the birthday person not custom? Everything I looked up about birthdays suggested that proper etiquette was to give a gift to the one having the birthday.”

“Chase! You… you’re…! Ugh!” Gou glared at the man before looking over at Kiriko and sighing. He reached into the bag and was surprised to feel something soft. He pulled a purple T-shirt out of the bag. 

“I’ve noticed that your shoelaces always match the shirt color you wear, yet the other day, you were wearing purple ones. Since you do not own a purple shirt, I have acquired one as a gift for you.” Chase explained as the teen unfolded the shirt.

Gou's cheeks took on a soft shade of pink and he looked at the shirt and stifled a laugh, it turning into more of an amused snort. “Chase… I like it. ...Thank you.” 

“It was…difficult to find a shirt with the word Go on it, or having something from America on it. The only other one I found besides this one was one with a white haired animated woman on it with the words “Let it Go” written on the top.”

The teen’s eyes widened a bit. “Yeah…in that case…I like this one even more!” Gou pulled off his current shirt and slipped on Chase’s gift and turned around to show the rest of the party.  


The shirt had a darker purple silhouette of Texas in the middle with the words “Let’s Go Chase the Dream” written in the center. “You know…I did stay in Texas for about two weeks but never got a shirt from there like I did the other states I visited. I won’t have to get one now when I go back eventually.” Gou smiled, staring at the shirt and then down to his shoes with his recently bought purple shoelaces.

————————————–

As Gou was watching Chase eat cake for the first time and describing in full detail what he tasted, Tomari sneaked over to Kiriko. “I’m glad it seems like Gou and Chase are getting along.”

“Me too. I’m glad you convinced me to keep the party going. Gou needed this and….I think Chase needed this too. I know the two still have a ways to go on actually being good friends, but it was a nice start today. Although…what are the odds Chase would find a shirt with both go AND chase on it? And that Gou immediately loved it? You don’t think…”

“Chase WAS the only one that noticed he was wearing purple shoelaces. And now that Chase mentioned it….it’s VERY odd Gou would even have them in the first place if he didn’t have a shirt to match…”

The two looked at each other and then over to a smiling Gou and a very confused looking Chase, who was holding up a strawberry.

“Well…if THAT’S the case…” Tomari smirked as he pushed up his tie.

“Payback time for Gou trying to hook us up?” Kiriko suggested.

“Payback time.”

**Author's Note:**

> The t-shirt isn't real and I used my own state for this. Aside from knowing that Gou was born in 1996, I have no idea what month his birthday actually is, so it is possible that he's still 18. I could have used Yu Inaba's actual birthday, but since Shinnosuke has a different birthday than Ryoma, I decided that Gou would have a different one from Yu's.


End file.
